


Promise Me This (One Last Thing)

by HMS_Gunner



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Reality, Fantasy AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-18
Updated: 2014-01-18
Packaged: 2018-01-09 04:49:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1141633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HMS_Gunner/pseuds/HMS_Gunner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn and Liam are supernatural hunters and Zayn's last target is himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promise Me This (One Last Thing)

"You need to kill me."

The words sound like a complete and utter joke. Liam balks at Zayn, who repeats the phrase with no change in tone.

"I need you to promise me that you'll kill me," Zayn says.

The waxing moon is high and it illuminates the warehouse through windows high above, casting a faint blue spotlight around them. His back is facing Liam, who doesn't understand anything about why Zayn's called him here in the middle of the night or why he wants him to end his life.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Liam says, a rare curse word flitting past his lips. He wants nothing more than to cross the distance between them, wrap his arms around Zayn and hold him tight until he gives in. They kill off the forces of evil - demons, warlocks, the occasional gremlin - but not their own.

"Li, promise me."

"Not until you tell me what this is all about."

Zayn tilts his head up and releases a pained breath. He turns around as slowly as he can and when they lock eyes, Liam lets out a small gasp. Zayn's left arm is blackened but lustrous, almost looking like it's charred and withered, and the veins traveling up his neck are visible and have black liquid creeping through them.

"Remember the warlock I killed last week?"

Inanely, Liam nods. Hell, he can't do anything but nod.

"He managed to hit me with a potion right before I vanquished him. I didn't think anything of it until it was too late."

"Liquid mandragora," Liam breathes out, eyes locked on to Zayn's arm.

Zayn closes his eyes and nods. He sound surprisingly calm but Liam knows Zayn's emotional bluffs. He's just as terrified as Liam.

"I have until the next full moon before I transform," Zayn says, looking down.

"Bu- but that's in three days."

"And before that time, you have to kill me before I become a danger to everyone else around me."

"I- I can't."

"Liam, you're the only other hunter I know who's strong enough."

Liam squats down with his face in his hands. He bites back the tears and the regrets. He should have said those three words a long time ago. He realized it three months ago, even though they'd been fooling around on and off, but damn it all, he didn't mean to get so attached.

Zayn walks forward and kneels in front of Liam and pries his hands away. The icy touch of his left hand shocks Liam a little, as if it's already rotting away into a demonic vestige. He leans down and kisses Liam firmly on the lips.

"I love you, too."

The tears pour out because it hurts worse now that he's heard it from Zayn too, and Zayn ends up holding Liam instead even though he's the one who's about to die. Liam knows that if he waits the extra days, it'll only hurt more for the both of them. Zayn does an extraordinary job of hiding his pain and he doesn't wear the leather jacket just for show. He's always been the tougher of the two.

And it's unfair because Liam thought that it would always be this way, that he wouldn't have to be the tougher one, ever.

"I promise," Liam says, in between sobs.

"Thanks."

Zayn doesn't let Liam see how wet his own cheeks are. He prefers it this way.

An hour later, Liam pulls out a dagger and lets it hover by his side. Zayn's standing in the moonlight with his leather jacket tossed aside and shirt stripped away. It's apparent how bad the mandragora's spread. All of his left arm and side is blackened, and Liam's breath hitches in his throat seeing what his lips used to know with intimate detail and will never know again.

"Are you ready?" Zayn asks.

"I'll probably never be."

"I'll be on the other side," he says, trying to be reassuring, "and even though you won't know it, I'll be watching. You'll love and be happy again."

"I wish we had more time," Liam replies.

"Me too."

Liam steels himself with the biggest breath of his life and straightens up. Zayn points to the center of his chest, and Liam almost loses his fragile composure. His grip tightens around the handle and he walks forward. He poises the tip at Zayn's chest.

"I love you, Zayn."

"I love you, Liam."

A slight gasp escapes Zayn as the blade plunges in, slicing through skin and bone and heart. Urgently, Liam presses his lips against Zayn's to feel his warmth one last time, and Zayn presses back with fading strength. His hand reaches up to caress Liam's cheek but comes just short and falls limply to his side.

Liam cries quietly as the life slips out of Zayn one red droplet at a time, but he knows it's for the best. He hates that it's for the best.

The sun is rising when he buries Zayn's body by the roots of a gnarled olive tree. He places the knife in Zayn's right hand. There are plenty of daggers out there, but he can't ever use this one again, not when it's spilled innocent blood. A warm wind blows by, and he fills the grave with dirt.

"Wait for me, Zayn."

**Author's Note:**

> It's super short and I just kinda cranked it out. Blah.


End file.
